Scott Carson

Stats man Scott Carson is now in his 18th season as "third man in the booth" during Blue Jays telecasts.

Scott Carson has been impressed with Cito Gaston's handling of the bullpen this season.

Cito Gaston's handling of the bullpen has turned into a strong suit during the 2010 season.

Monday night's 8-6, hang-on win over the Yankees may have been Cito Gaston's best game managing the Blue Jays' under-rated bullpen. In yet another nine-inning marathon in the Bronx, the veteran skipper's handling of the bullpen stands out, something that has rarely been acknowledged during his reign in Toronto.

After watching almost 2,500 games from my comfy seat in the broadcast booth, many games are decided by the bullpen before the ball is handed to the closer in the ninth inning. Monday night, the defining moment occurred in the sixth inning when starter Brandon Morrow ran out of gas and the Yankees veteran line-up was smelling blood. The Jays scored seven times off A.J. Burnett in the top of the fifth and led 8-2. But having spent over half an hour on the bench watching his teammates line double after double clearly had an effect on Morrow. His good stuff from the previous four innings had dissipated as did his command of the strike zone.

This prompted Cito to make one of those rare trips to the mound to not point towards the bullpen but to get his young starter's attention. It didn't seem to work as the Yankees scored twice in the fifth and then after a walk, wild pitch and RBI single in the sixth, Morrow's night was done. In came Scott Downs, normally an eighth inning fixture, to stop the bleeding. The veteran manager had seen many rallies in the Bronx and he knew that this one had to be stopped right there. It proved to be a defining moment in the game, which the Jays held on to win 8-6.

Over the years, Cito Gaston has had many detractors, mostly in the media and by extension the viewers and readers. It's been said that he is a hitter's manager, having been a good hitter as a player and then after his career ended a successful hitting coach. He's never really gotten his due as a manager despite two World Series championships and a .516 regular season winning percentage. Anybody could have managed those great teams, he just set the line-up and let the boys play said the pessimists. This year has been more of the same as the Jays have slugged their way to the wins, eschewing the "small ball" that many fans are in favour of. I hear all of you that call into the post-game show on my drive home after each game at the Rogers Centre. That's fine, you are entitled to your opinion.

But Cito's handling of the bullpen has turned into a strong suit in what was supposed to be a lost season. For the first time in many years, each and every member of the 'pen has a role and, for the most part, they have been very successful. Brian Tallet is the long man, Casey Janssen can also be expected to go more than one inning. Jason Frasor has turned into the 7th inning guy, Shawn Camp - having the best season of his journeyman career - fills several roles including setting up, Downs sets up from the left-side and Kevin Gregg closes. Cito, through trusted lieutenants Bruce Walton (pitching coach) and Rick Langford (bullpen), has gotten the most out of these pitchers. And in my mind, their best work has been the conversion of David Purcey from starter to an effective reliever in just about every situation he's put in. He's been put into situations to succeed and he has, and he clearly has a bright future in the late innings. Perhaps he might even be under consideration to start closing out games.

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING

The non-waiver trade deadline came and went and despite many conversations, General Manager Alex Anthopoulos kept the current roster together. As he told the media, you don't make a trade just for the sake of it unless you can make the club better. So the rumours that Downs, Frasor, John Buck, Lyle Overbay and Jose Bautista might be leaving town were just that, rumours. Now, that's not to say something won't still get by the end of August, it's just a lot tougher trying to get players through waivers. If no deals happen, his biggest piece of business will be to get Bautista under contract to forego the arbitration process in which his current salary would likely triple.